A Condition Monitoring System (CMS) is an automated system for monitoring the parameters of machinery, such as a power plant, so as to predict failures, perform maintenance and adjust performance. A fossil-fuel power plant, for example, may use a CMS to aid an operator in optimizing the performance of the power plant. One of the ways a CMS accomplishes this task is by performing energy loss analysis to determine the causes of energy loss.
An “operating condition” of a power plant refers to a premise upon which the power plant is operating. Air temperature is an example of an operating condition within a power plant. The operating conditions of a power plant with the least equivalent fossil fuel consumption are referred to as “optimal conditions” or “optimal operating conditions.” A power plant's optimal conditions may vary according to certain characteristics of the power plant, such as current load, boundary conditions, current fuel characteristics and current circumstances. Energy-loss analysis quantifies and ranks the contribution of key operating parameters to the equivalent fossil fuel consumption deviation, i.e., energy loss. To that end, a CMS may conduct an energy-loss analysis to identify the causes of the power plant's deviation from optimal performance. Based on the causes identified by the CMS, an operator may consequently take corresponding actions to adjust the operating parameters of the power plant, so as to increase the power plant's performance.
One of the key components of an energy-loss analysis is determining what constitutes optimal operating conditions for the power plant. Target values for optimal operating conditions are the inputs for energy-loss analysis, which provides operational guidance. Known methods for calculating target values for power plants include designed target values, overhauled target values and off-design target values. Such known approaches for determining target values for optimal operating conditions, however, operate using only constant or static data and do not take into account current variations in load, fuel characteristics or present circumstances of the power plant. Additionally, the known approaches can be time-consuming and expensive to implement. There is a need for higher-accuracy energy-loss analysis for power plants that accounts for current variations in operating parameters.